Lucius (Luna Lodge #3) by Madison Stevens Page A

Steadying herself against him, Hannah took in several breaths. She could hardly look him in the eye after everything he had just said. It still made her head spin just thinking about it.
    She walked to the table and grabbed the keys to the back room. The faster they got her stuff, the faster they could get to that bed.
    She blushed again when she glanced up to him.
    “I’ll just unlock the door,” she said.
    They walked to the back corner. She frowned. The door was slightly ajar.
    “That’s weird,” she mumbled. “I’m sure I locked it.”
    She placed her hand on the knob but was suddenly knocked to the side by Lucius.
    “Stay down!” he shouted at her as a man lunged through at him.
    A quick flurry of blows followed until Lucius staggered back from a powerful hit. Hannah screamed and scrambled to the side wall as the two fought. She gasped when the man came into view. Man. She didn’t even know if that term still applied. His skin was pale. Nearly gray. Large pieces of skin, although they appeared to be healing, were still split and weeping. She gagged as the smell of rotting flesh hit her nose. The mutated hybrid whipped his head around to her and snapped his teeth at her.
    Back to the wall, she had nowhere to go.
    Lucius lunged in between them and squared his shoulders. For the first time, she realized they were nearly the same size and swallowed.
    “Right here, big boy,” Lucius said. “You want her, you got to finish me first.”
    The enemy’s beady red eyes darted back and forth between them, settling on Lucius.
    “That’s right you bastard,” he said and crouched down.
    She shook, watching the two of them take position to fight.
    The mutated hybrid was the first to move. Faster than her eyes could follow, he sprinted to Lucius who was ready for the attack. Hands outstretched, he avoided the gnashing teeth and used the momentum to slam the man into the wall. Hannah winced at the crunch and howl of pain that followed.
    Not wasting time, the creature was back up. One arm hung limp at its side now, likely broken from the impact.
    She shivered at the cold grin and beckoning motion Lucius gave the mutant hybrid.
    “That it?” he taunted.
    The hybrid charged. A shrill screech echoed through the hall. She covered her ears and clamped her eyes shut. It was all too much.
    Two arms pulled her against a hard warm chest, and after a moment, she stopped pinching her eyes shut quite as hard.
    “It’s okay,” Lucius whispered to the top of her head.
    She shivered thinking about the hybrid.
    “Is he gone?” she asked, knowing what lay on the other side of the room.
    “Just don’t look,” Lucius said quietly. His arms pulled her even closer to his chest.
    They sat like that for some time, her listening to his steady heartbeat and trying to measure her own pulse against his before she spoke.
    “Why are they like that?” she asked quietly.
    Lucius sighed. “Because something went wrong. They might not see it that way, but those aren’t men. They function on instinct and orders alone.”
    Hannah looked up to him. Seeing his face made her feel like things would be better.
    “How did he get in?” she asked.
    He frowned. “I can only think he slipped in when the alarm was off.” He grunted. “Maybe they planned the power outage. Maybe they just took advantage of it.” He shrugged.
    Soldiers and hybrids with guns shuffled in behind them, but she was glad when Lucius didn’t bother to move. The last thing she wanted to see was them removing the body.
    Hannah looked up when a pair of feet came to stand next to them and frowned. Titus. She was still angry with him for earlier.
    “I want her to stay with Jenna starting immediately,” he said with authority, refusing to look in her direction.
    Hannah frowned.
    “Why would I stay with Jenna?” She struggled to stand but found Lucius’s arms holding her firmly in place. If she hadn’t been sitting, she might have kicked him.
    “That won’t be